For some time airships and a family of related lighter-than-air-craft long have demonstrated their unique capabilities. Recently, interest has been renewed with a mind toward using them as extremely heavy load transporters. However, the heavy lift capacity airships as well as the related models all have several limitations. Among these are: large ground crews are needed; they have a limited maneuvering capability near the ground; they all have critical ballasting problems when taking on or removing cargo; and when controlled hovering over a body of water is called for in conditions of high wind or high sea states, they tend to become unmanageable due to cushioning effects and venturi reactions. These limitations, among others, restrict the airships' effectiveness and could be critical, particularly for military applications. Thus, there is a continuing need in the state-of-the-art for an improvement for airships which avoids or at least reduces the problems associated with operations over water in high wind conditions or high sea states.